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Evan Williams of Twitter @ TED Conference: What is your Side Project?

Interesting talk by Evan Williams of Twitter at the TED Conference where he talks about the unexpected uses of Twitter. The success of Twitter has been chronicled as it has hit the mainstream media. At this point in my life I couldn’t imagine going through the day without my laptop or blackberry to check the pulse of the world through the eyes of the Twitter community.What grabbed me the most about his talk was the fact that Twitter started off as a side project. The first word that comes to mind after watching the video is the word GRUSTLE.

GRUSTLE is the combination of a daily Grind (job) and a Hustle (your passion) and most people are caught between the two. Most peoples side project is their passion, which I believe fuels their success.

The average person is one side project away from their greatness. What side project are you working on?

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Operating in your Genius: The Method of Identifying your Passion

GENIUS (SIMON), 1980, originally uploaded by galessa’s plastics.

There is a genius inside of everyone. Operating in your genius has nothing to do with scoring 140 on your IQ test. It is tapping into your God given talents and abilities and developing them to their fullest.

Data shows us that we only use about 10% of our brain capacity and I am a strong believer that this is due largely because we have no interest in the work that we do. So why on earth would you ever challenge yourself to tap into your hidden potential and unlock your inner genius? The golden handcuffs of the American dream have handicapped most people’s thinking and locked them into a passionless existence.

When you love what you do you think creativity to solve problems. The premise of personal branding is: Unlocking your inner genius and connecting it to your passion and addressing a specific problem that can lead to profitability – emotionally, mentally, psychological, spiritually, and economically.

Geniuses

Personal Brands Inner Genius Accomplishments
Michael Jackson Musician King of Pop
Tiger Woods Golfer Defines Golf
Seth Godin Marketer Marketing Guru
J.K.Rowing Author First Billionaire Author

Are these individuals smarter than you or me? What if Michael never became a musician? What if Thriller was never made? What if Tiger never played Golf? What if Seth never wrote his best selling books? What if J.K. Rowing decided to act on her suicidal thoughts never wrote Harry Potter? Their success is connected to them finding out what their good at and out working their competition.

Personal Branding Note: Personal Branding Should help you identify, package, and build awareness of your inner Genius.

What if your job has nothing to do with your inner Genius? Could you transition? Are you stuck between a genius and a job?

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Visual Resume 2.0: The New Story Teller

Hajj Flemings – Visual Resume (Resume 2.0)

How do you capture the scope and depth of your life in an 8.5 x 11 white paper? One dimensional thinkers in times past (pre social networks) could be captured in a white box, but the transformation of networks to social networks, face-to-face to online conversations have changed the rules of engagement.

Traditional resumes or resume 1.0 are dead and it is not because of the Green movement.
As a personal brand you engage your community, perspective employers, customers, and future business partners through a series of brand impressions that can be leveraged through your online community. With social networks like Twitter, Linkedin, VisualCV and Slideshare and other free tools a person can more effectively communicate their personal brand and what makes them different?

Definition of Visual Resumes – Is a visual communicator of your personal brand that creatively tells your story through a brief series of images, ideas, and experiences that are in a sharable and searchable format.

Examples of Visual Resumes
o Dustin Sommer – A student from my Personal Branding Class (@Dustin Sommer)
o Saranyan Vigraham – Employee at Qualcomm (@Saranyan)

Goal of Visual Resumes: Extend the engagement of your personal brand (Employers spent 20-30 seconds viewing resumes)

Visual Resume Elements
o Brief – Recommend 15-20 pages
o Story Telling Format
o Avatar- Global ID
o Spreadable – Embed into your blog, Linkedin, and Twitter
o Searchable – The use of tags for searchability in the social network and in Google
o Images – Sources: Flickr and istock photo

Why Create a Visual Resume?
o Shows your creativity
o Optimize your elevator pitch.
o Think in soundbites
o Practice story telling
o Extends the engagement.

A Note to GRUSTLERS: (Grind-to-Hustle)
Especially if you are a GRUSTLER, the traditional resume doesn’t work. Your resume is probably loaded with experience that is not directly related with your passion and doesn’t do you justice. You need away to communicate the varying dimensions of your life.

Share a link to your visual resume.

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2009 Brand Camp Conference Updates: Coming Soon!!!

The planning for the 2009 Brand Camp University – Personal Branding 2.0 Conference is being finalized. Updates for the conference will be posted to the site soon. SAVE the Date: Saturday, October 10, 2009. Looking forward to seeing you in Detroit.

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